Tied fast
To a slow-moving zeppelin,
What these heavyweights need
Is an anchor.
Moderator's comments: As expected, this comes at us fast and furiously cynical; who could wish for more in a debut piece? And the ludicrous image of self-anointed Olympian poets strapped to the side of a cumbersome gargantuan dirigible like the Hindenburg, for example, makes it even more fiery. Speaking of images, if one wished to delve further into this piece, one could even find allusions, i.e. zeppelin, heavyweights, to the legendary rock group, Led Zeppelin. What a tour de force! One can only wonder if his next offering will be as riveting.
Everybody's doing it, Vassilis, changing their image, that is.
ReplyDeleteI get such a shock every time, but your words are as wonderful as ever.
And I think this format is terrific. Subtle soft colours, with strong cpntrasts
I wonder if Cinquor ever met Georges Zuk. You know Zuk, even if you think you don't, so maybe Cinquor knew him, too, without know it. I bring this up because of the zeppelin. I'm almost certain that Zuk wrote a poem about a zeppelin, though I can't find it in the Selected Poems (translated by Robin Skelton and published by Kayak [1969]). Can you ask Cinquor about Zuk? Even if the zeppelin connection is spurious, I think I hear traces of Zuk in Cinquor. And it's not just a matter of influence! I think Zuk must have known Cinquor, maybe in his youth. Take this Zuk poem, which I suspect was written with Cinquor in mind:
ReplyDeleteJacob had a ladder.
I too have ladders
climbing up from the false
to the incredible.
N'est-ce pas?
Thank you, Elisabeth.
ReplyDeleteYes, it does seem like it’s catching—this urge to change/upgrade/downgrade whatever our image may be from time to time; I hear the news has even reached isolated Australia and is making yet another onslaught on mighty Vegemite!
ps. Incidentally, your blog’s new look is definitely an upgrade—your writing remains as ever—super.
Dear Joe,
I found your comments so intriguing that I sent them straightaway to Cinquor himself and am anxiously awaiting a reply which I hope will shed some light on this matter. I’ll post his reply as soon as he sees fits to send it (not by dirigible, I hope!).